skypuppy 1 #26 April 15, 2012 More likely scenario is they just hauled the stuff out into the elements so they could 'live' in the crates...If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #27 April 15, 2012 Quote Wow, still in the crates! I doubt if it's stayed dry in there... I would think that being buried underground for 67 years, the crates have rotted away, and whatever remains is going to be one big rusty lump. That environment isn't exactly known for being low humidity. Planes have been found preserved in artic ice, understandably. Planes are preserved in desert boneyards where there is no humidity, understandably. But in Burma where rain falls at 40 to 90 inches per year? I'd be surprised if there's much that can be salvaged. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #28 April 15, 2012 Quote Quote Wow, still in the crates! I doubt if it's stayed dry in there... I would think that being buried underground for 67 years, the crates have rotted away, and whatever remains is going to be one big rusty lump. That environment isn't exactly known for being low humidity. Hi JR I think John Mitchell or Amazon knows about a guy who was bringing back some pliatous porters from SEAs into the the US in pieces maybe as late as approx 10 yr's ago. Think Air america:Porters from 1960-70's rotting in a hot humid jungle maybe crashed in various air area around SEA or stored someplace. A Pilot with the right connections, wrench's, duct tape, etc. I know nothingOne Jump Wonder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #29 April 15, 2012 Quote Quote Quote Wow, still in the crates! I doubt if it's stayed dry in there... I would think that being buried underground for 67 years, the crates have rotted away, and whatever remains is going to be one big rusty lump. That environment isn't exactly known for being low humidity. Hi JR I think John Mitchell or Amazon knows about a guy who was bringing back some pliatous porters from SEAs into the the US in pieces maybe as late as approx 10 yr's ago. Think Air america:Porters from 1960-70's rotting in a hot humid jungle maybe crashed in various air area around SEA or stored someplace. A Pilot with the right connections, wrench's, duct tape, etc. I know nothing Said pilot dude has one brand new Porter airframe sitting in his hanger that has never even had the gummed paper removed from the "brand new" plexiglass in it. He still says that one of these days he is going to stuff a nice PT6-34 into it one of these days Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swovelin 11 #30 April 16, 2012 More details in this article from avweb.com: Lost Squadron Of Pickled Spitfires Found Email this article |Print this article By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief Aviation historians and warbird enthusiasts are drooling at the discovery of at least 12 and maybe as many 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in Myanmar, which was formerly Burma. Thanks to the tenacity (and apparently considerable diplomatic skills) of British farmer David Cundall, the lost squadron of pristine fighters was found where they were buried by U.S. troops in 1945 when it became clear they wouldn't be needed in the final days of the Second World War. At least a dozen of the aircraft, one of the latest variants with their 2,035-horsepower Roll Royce Griffon engines replacing the 1,200-1,500-horsepower Merlins in earlier models, were buried without ever being removed from their original packing crates. It's possible another eight were also buried after the war ended. After spending 15 years and $200,000 of his own money, Cundall was rewarded with visual proof of the magnitude of his discovery. "We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates," he told the Telegraph. "They seemed to be in good condition." The aircraft were declared surplus when they arrived in Burma because the Japanese were in retreat by then and carrier-based Seafires were getting all the action. They were ordered buried in their original crates, waxed, swaddled in grease paper and their joints tarred against the elements. Cundall found some of the soldiers who buried the planes by placing ads in magazines and was able to narrow down the search before using ground-penetrating radar to confirm the burial site. The next obstacles to recovery are political. Myanmar's former military junta was under a variety of sanctions, among them an international convention that prevented the transfer of military goods to and from the country. Recent political reforms have led to the lifting of that ban effective April 23. Cundall will also need the permission of the new Myanmar government to unearth the treasure. He helped his own cause by making numerous trips to the country and earning the trust of government officials. British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to seal the deal with Myanmar President Thein Sein during a visit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dpreguy 14 #31 April 16, 2012 Woo Hoo!! Grave robbers weren't there after all! (borehole camera showed crates...yadda ...") Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeJD 0 #32 April 17, 2012 QuoteAt least a dozen of the aircraft, one of the latest variants with their 2,035-horsepower Roll Royce Griffon engines replacing the 1,200-1,500-horsepower Merlins in earlier models... Aw, they're Griffon-engined? That's a slight disappointment. They just don't look quite the same. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dthames 0 #33 April 17, 2012 Quote Quote Spitfires...well, Heinkels and Stukas never stood much of a chance against their speed and those 60 round cannon drums, or the four Browning 303 machine guns... (My personal favorite of the weapons variations available) My favorite was the 6 Browning .50 caliber machine guns most American planes carried. The P-47 carried 8 of those bad boys. In 1994, as part of the 50th anniversary of D-Day, PBS aired a 3-1/2 hour show called A Fighter Pilot’s Story. I recorded it to VHS but later purchased a cleaner copy on DVD. It is a wonderful and painful story by a P-47 pilot about his training and combat experience. It is narrated by the pilot and his wife (or female voice) as they go over his journal, letters home, and thoughts. The video is still images and some gun camera film. http://quentinaanenson.com/Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!” Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #34 April 17, 2012 Beyond (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #35 April 17, 2012 Quote Aw, they're Griffon-engined? That's a slight disappointment. They just don't look quite the same. I think that's a five bladed prop and squared off wingtips. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeJD 0 #36 April 17, 2012 QuoteQuote Aw, they're Griffon-engined? That's a slight disappointment. They just don't look quite the same. I think that's a five bladed prop and squared off wingtips. Yep. I can live with the five-bladed prop, and even the clipped wings (although it does spoil that classical elliptical shape a bit), but the Griffon also changed the shape of the nose. Seeing one of those very late models is a bit like looking at a Buchon masquerading as a German 109 - it looks almost right, but not quite. I know it's still a Spitfire, but for me the 'classic' Spit will always be one with unclipped wingtips and a Merlin powerplant. Ironically enough, after the war the Buchons (effectively Spanish-built Messercshmitt 109s) were fitted with Merlin engines and served into the 1960s. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,026 #37 April 17, 2012 QuoteQuoteQuote Aw, they're Griffon-engined? That's a slight disappointment. They just don't look quite the same. I think that's a five bladed prop and squared off wingtips. Yep. I can live with the five-bladed prop, and even the clipped wings (although it does spoil that classical elliptical shape a bit), but the Griffon also changed the shape of the nose. Seeing one of those very late models is a bit like looking at a Buchon masquerading as a German 109 - it looks almost right, but not quite. I know it's still a Spitfire, but for me the 'classic' Spit will always be one with unclipped wingtips and a Merlin powerplant. Ironically enough, after the war the Buchons (effectively Spanish-built Messercshmitt 109s) were fitted with Merlin engines and served into the 1960s. A squadron of them were borrowed to make the movie "The Battle of Britain". When I was a graduate student at Cambridge we used to see them flying mock dogfights with the Spitfires and Hurricanes most fine days through that summer. (They were based out of Duxford which is just 10 miles from Cambridge)... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #38 April 17, 2012 Quote A squadron of them were borrowed to make the movie "The Battle of Britain". When I was a graduate student at Cambridge we used to see them flying mock dogfights with the Spitfires and Hurricanes most fine days through that summer. (They were based out of Duxford which is just 10 miles from Cambridge) That's a great movie. My friends and I loved it as a kid. I have the DVD and watched again not too long ago. I read a pilot's report of flying a Griffon warbird a few years ago. He said it was not the graceful, inspiring aircraft like the early Merlin Spits, but a powerful, well honed killing machine. I think that was a good job description right there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeJD 0 #39 April 18, 2012 I sometimes jump at Headcorn in Kent. It's a busy airfield and we're lucky enough to get old warbirds flying in and out and parked up there frequently, including a P-51, Hurricane and Spitfire (Mk V, I think). We also get impromptu flypasts from quite a few larger aircraft including the Lancaster and B-17 on their way to and from airshows during the summer season. The privilege of being a jumper is being allowed out onto the aircraft park - so we get to walk around those marvellous planes and see them up close. The thing that always strikes me about the Spit is how small it is, in comparison to the Hurricane and the Mustang. It's positively petite! I've read pilots' accounts of how the cockpit seems to hug you, almost as if you were wearing the aeroplane. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #40 April 18, 2012 Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft² (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #41 April 18, 2012 Quote I sometimes jump at Headcorn in Kent. It's a busy airfield and we're lucky enough to get old warbirds flying in and out and parked up there frequently, including a P-51, Hurricane and Spitfire (Mk V, I think). We also get impromptu flypasts from quite a few larger aircraft including the Lancaster and B-17 on their way to and from airshows during the summer season. Sounds like I need to take a trip. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #42 April 18, 2012 seems cool doesn't it ? come over here, we have the only Morane 406 still flying, plus the occasional Avenger, EKW C36, Yak52, Yak9, a couple of Bücker too scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #43 April 18, 2012 Quote Quote I sometimes jump at Headcorn in Kent. It's a busy airfield and we're lucky enough to get old warbirds flying in and out and parked up there frequently, including a P-51, Hurricane and Spitfire (Mk V, I think). We also get impromptu flypasts from quite a few larger aircraft including the Lancaster and B-17 on their way to and from airshows during the summer season. Sounds like I need to take a trip. Shorter trips work too John....we do have a few warbirds around here ya know Most weekends in the summer there is something out flying with that wonderful sound of history in the airIf ya have not been to these.. just sayin. Paine Field Oh and they work on these Boeing Field The restoration center is at Paine Field across from the building I used to work in. It was cool to watch the process of returning the aircraft to flight before stuffing them away at the museum. They even have an [url "http://binged.it/HQDm1S" ">AN-2 and BOAC de Havilland Comet sitting outside at the resoration center just over from the B-52 they will get around to eventually. Tillimook Evergreen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #44 April 19, 2012 Yep, I need to make it up to PAE and check out Paul's toy collection.Museum of Flight at BFI? We had the family membership for years. Brett and I still go up there once or twice a year.Tillamook and Evergreen are definitely on my list. Maybe a little Oregon Coast vacation this summer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kasch 0 #45 April 19, 2012 Quote You know I'll argue for the P-51 Mustang, but that plane was a little late to the party. Awesome article, thanks for posting it! Mustangs are amazing :) there was something sexy about Corsairs though.Sex with sith is like sex with a stripper. A lot of flashing lights and waving of glowing sabers, but in the end you end up with something dark and wrinkely. DPH# "-13" TSK# "-13" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #46 April 19, 2012 QuoteMustangs are amazing :) there was something sexy about Corsairs though. The Corsair is actually my favorite WWII bird, and the only one still in production and use long after the war. My dad, as a young aerospace engineer fresh out of school in the early 50's, went to work for LTV down in Garland, TX. His first job was drawing up a cockpit mod for the Corsairs still in production for the French. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kasch 0 #47 April 19, 2012 They are still in production?! That's pretty amazing. Gorgeous plane :)Sex with sith is like sex with a stripper. A lot of flashing lights and waving of glowing sabers, but in the end you end up with something dark and wrinkely. DPH# "-13" TSK# "-13" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #48 April 19, 2012 QuoteThey are still in production?! That's pretty amazing. Gorgeous plane :) Sorry, that was an ambiguous sentence, wasn't it? It was in production through 1953. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kasch 0 #49 April 19, 2012 I was confused and excited when I read that. Thats pretty cool though.Sex with sith is like sex with a stripper. A lot of flashing lights and waving of glowing sabers, but in the end you end up with something dark and wrinkely. DPH# "-13" TSK# "-13" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #50 October 18, 2012 Latest news: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/17/myanmar-signs-deal-to-dig-up-buried-wwii-planes/?test=latestnews"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
